Thanks once more to all reviewers, sorry it's taken me so long to review but I've been contending with exams, writer's block, two other fan fics and a few other things. Since I have nothing to do but wait for two general studies exams, (which you can't revise for), I've decided to write another chapter.
Anyway, replies are where they should be.
Chapter 35: It's hard to care
I find myself with more agonising free time after the meeting had finished. We were waiting for another load of helicopters or something to take us to the first on the list of secluded corners of the world where Neo may be hiding. Assuming we found him, (which I doubted would happen), we'd get the delightful task of destroying whatever defences he had whilst Smith did whatever he was planning to do. Then, assuming we still drew breath, we had to run like hell before the surrounding vanished around us and took us with it.
For now however, I wanted nothing more then to be left alone. Well actually, I wanted nothing more then to put a bullet through Morpheus' neck, but I didn't see that happening somehow.
I wandered off into the forest and started traipsing through the lines of trees and charred Demon corpses. It was hard to feel anything for the bodies at my feet other then nausea, brought about by the smell of burnt flesh. After the amount of times I'd vomited in recent days however, I didn't care that much.
Eventually, I came to a tree stump and sat down upon it. The trees provided shelter from the wind, which was somewhat annoying considering the warm temperature. I wondered briefly why the Zion based humans insisted in walking around in black coats during the summer months. It just didn't seem practical.
Wanderer and me had received more glares after everyone moved back outside. He chose to stay with the Ascended ones however as opposed to revelling in solitude. I guess he thought that lurking with others who didn't despise him was preferable to lurking in solitude.
I looked around at the forest and briefly remembered my first visit to it. Or more accurately, the forest in which the Destiny lurked when I first arrived. The Destiny doesn't exist in one fixed position, and my memory of the trees wasn't good enough to determine if it was the same forest.
My only concern then was getting killed by a gang of thugs. It was strange how much I messed that time. At least then, I wasn't part of a team of people, (many of whom would gladly kill me, probably), trying to prevent the annihilation of life as we know it. I sighed as I pushed my nostalgia aside and began staring at a nearby bird's nest.
Behind me, I heard the unmistakable click, which comes from a gun before someone pulls the trigger. My first thought, after a momentary rush of panic, was that a Demon had survived and come back for revenge. I dove to the left, rolled over the mud on the floor and reached for my own weapon as my body twisted to face the mysterious gun wielder. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Smith confiscated my firearm and I found myself clutching at air next to an empty holster.
I also found myself staring at the barrel of Morpheus' gun. In that instant, a sickeningly familiar rage flooded through me again, suppressing it was slightly easier, but it still wouldn't have taken much for me to charge at him and tear his throat out with my teeth, or get shot in the process.
Instead, I just stood up, Morpheus' weapon tilted upwards; he seemed to be pointing it at my heart.
"We need to talk." He said, deadpan. I responded with silence, never taking my eyes away from his throat.
"Smith explained to me about what happened to your brother."
"Did he?" My voice sounded like sandpaper being dragged over a table.
"Yes," he paused, presumably searching for the right words, if such things exist. "I'm not going to kill you, and I'm not going to apologise. Your brother had been taken as a host for the Agents, and would have killed me if I hadn't destroyed the café first. It wa-"
"Would they have released him?"
"What?"
"After they'd killed him? Would they have left his body?"
"I," he stuttered, traces of a grin broke out on my face. At this stage, any disturbance or damage to him, however slight, felt good. "We don't know. Its been known to happen, but usuall-"
"Then I'll stick with my original opinion which is that you killed him."
There was another silence after that. Morpheus' gun never moved.
"If we fail here, the results on all life throughout the world will be catastrophic, humans could become extinct, we can't risk you or the other you jeopardising the light chance we have left by trying to exact vengeance."
"I understand that." I'd thought about this a few times during my moment of solitude, "but ask yourself this. If I had killed Captain Niobe," hi mouth twitched at the juxtaposition of death and Niobe, "Would you care about saving the world? Or would you trade it all to kill me?"
He said nothing.
"I thought as much, if I can resist the temptation to kill you until all this is over then I will, I'm making no promises however, and the fact that I haven't tried to beat you to death with my own hands now is something of a minor miracle, so if you want my advice, you'll reconsider your decision to let me live."
I turned back round and sat down on the tree. I was tired, both physically and figuratively. I was tired of getting shot at, tired of fighting, and I think I've already said something similar so I'll just get back to the story.
Morpheus was still there, he was considering whether or not to shoot me. I had time for one quick apology for Seamus for not avenging him and I think I also called Locke a bastard for whatever he'd done to piss me off in the past, before I found out what Morpheus' decision was.
In the company of the ascended ones, my mood had improved somewhat. I'd received numerous slaps on the back from them, and it was nice to be talking about something other then Morpheus, death and Smith for a change.
"So who had the highest head count?" Said Hawk, or something to say.
"With the Merovingian and four of his goons freshly decapitated," Said Dragon dramatically, earning a few stares from human onlookers, "Wanderer is still trailing pitifully behind." This earned some much-needed laughter, "I think you've still got the highest count Hawk."
She bowed slightly, earning more laughter. This was cut off instantly however, as we heard a gunshot from the forest. After a moments shock from everyone, we all charged in the direction of the sound.
To be continued.
Right, no for replies:
Angel-of-lightness: Fun talking to thee on the messenger device, even if the bloody thing does keep kicking me offline. I'll put that Linkin Park file on my website assuming Tripod starts working again before the end of the year. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.
Agent Josie: Tripod is screwed so it'll be a while before I can update the website again, (if ever), oh well, fun talking to thee on the messenger thing and thanks for reviewing. If you're using a computer, then you can blame misspellings on the keyboard.
LiMiYa: It's nice to see that i've managed to create a thought provokig story. I think it'll be hard to convey a realistic, evil Neo. he just doesn't seem to produce the same aura of evil that Smith did. Also, i don't see how the cloud could be an omen, or if it was, how you could have known. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.
Anyway, replies are where they should be.
Chapter 35: It's hard to care
I find myself with more agonising free time after the meeting had finished. We were waiting for another load of helicopters or something to take us to the first on the list of secluded corners of the world where Neo may be hiding. Assuming we found him, (which I doubted would happen), we'd get the delightful task of destroying whatever defences he had whilst Smith did whatever he was planning to do. Then, assuming we still drew breath, we had to run like hell before the surrounding vanished around us and took us with it.
For now however, I wanted nothing more then to be left alone. Well actually, I wanted nothing more then to put a bullet through Morpheus' neck, but I didn't see that happening somehow.
I wandered off into the forest and started traipsing through the lines of trees and charred Demon corpses. It was hard to feel anything for the bodies at my feet other then nausea, brought about by the smell of burnt flesh. After the amount of times I'd vomited in recent days however, I didn't care that much.
Eventually, I came to a tree stump and sat down upon it. The trees provided shelter from the wind, which was somewhat annoying considering the warm temperature. I wondered briefly why the Zion based humans insisted in walking around in black coats during the summer months. It just didn't seem practical.
Wanderer and me had received more glares after everyone moved back outside. He chose to stay with the Ascended ones however as opposed to revelling in solitude. I guess he thought that lurking with others who didn't despise him was preferable to lurking in solitude.
I looked around at the forest and briefly remembered my first visit to it. Or more accurately, the forest in which the Destiny lurked when I first arrived. The Destiny doesn't exist in one fixed position, and my memory of the trees wasn't good enough to determine if it was the same forest.
My only concern then was getting killed by a gang of thugs. It was strange how much I messed that time. At least then, I wasn't part of a team of people, (many of whom would gladly kill me, probably), trying to prevent the annihilation of life as we know it. I sighed as I pushed my nostalgia aside and began staring at a nearby bird's nest.
Behind me, I heard the unmistakable click, which comes from a gun before someone pulls the trigger. My first thought, after a momentary rush of panic, was that a Demon had survived and come back for revenge. I dove to the left, rolled over the mud on the floor and reached for my own weapon as my body twisted to face the mysterious gun wielder. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Smith confiscated my firearm and I found myself clutching at air next to an empty holster.
I also found myself staring at the barrel of Morpheus' gun. In that instant, a sickeningly familiar rage flooded through me again, suppressing it was slightly easier, but it still wouldn't have taken much for me to charge at him and tear his throat out with my teeth, or get shot in the process.
Instead, I just stood up, Morpheus' weapon tilted upwards; he seemed to be pointing it at my heart.
"We need to talk." He said, deadpan. I responded with silence, never taking my eyes away from his throat.
"Smith explained to me about what happened to your brother."
"Did he?" My voice sounded like sandpaper being dragged over a table.
"Yes," he paused, presumably searching for the right words, if such things exist. "I'm not going to kill you, and I'm not going to apologise. Your brother had been taken as a host for the Agents, and would have killed me if I hadn't destroyed the café first. It wa-"
"Would they have released him?"
"What?"
"After they'd killed him? Would they have left his body?"
"I," he stuttered, traces of a grin broke out on my face. At this stage, any disturbance or damage to him, however slight, felt good. "We don't know. Its been known to happen, but usuall-"
"Then I'll stick with my original opinion which is that you killed him."
There was another silence after that. Morpheus' gun never moved.
"If we fail here, the results on all life throughout the world will be catastrophic, humans could become extinct, we can't risk you or the other you jeopardising the light chance we have left by trying to exact vengeance."
"I understand that." I'd thought about this a few times during my moment of solitude, "but ask yourself this. If I had killed Captain Niobe," hi mouth twitched at the juxtaposition of death and Niobe, "Would you care about saving the world? Or would you trade it all to kill me?"
He said nothing.
"I thought as much, if I can resist the temptation to kill you until all this is over then I will, I'm making no promises however, and the fact that I haven't tried to beat you to death with my own hands now is something of a minor miracle, so if you want my advice, you'll reconsider your decision to let me live."
I turned back round and sat down on the tree. I was tired, both physically and figuratively. I was tired of getting shot at, tired of fighting, and I think I've already said something similar so I'll just get back to the story.
Morpheus was still there, he was considering whether or not to shoot me. I had time for one quick apology for Seamus for not avenging him and I think I also called Locke a bastard for whatever he'd done to piss me off in the past, before I found out what Morpheus' decision was.
In the company of the ascended ones, my mood had improved somewhat. I'd received numerous slaps on the back from them, and it was nice to be talking about something other then Morpheus, death and Smith for a change.
"So who had the highest head count?" Said Hawk, or something to say.
"With the Merovingian and four of his goons freshly decapitated," Said Dragon dramatically, earning a few stares from human onlookers, "Wanderer is still trailing pitifully behind." This earned some much-needed laughter, "I think you've still got the highest count Hawk."
She bowed slightly, earning more laughter. This was cut off instantly however, as we heard a gunshot from the forest. After a moments shock from everyone, we all charged in the direction of the sound.
To be continued.
Right, no for replies:
Angel-of-lightness: Fun talking to thee on the messenger device, even if the bloody thing does keep kicking me offline. I'll put that Linkin Park file on my website assuming Tripod starts working again before the end of the year. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.
Agent Josie: Tripod is screwed so it'll be a while before I can update the website again, (if ever), oh well, fun talking to thee on the messenger thing and thanks for reviewing. If you're using a computer, then you can blame misspellings on the keyboard.
LiMiYa: It's nice to see that i've managed to create a thought provokig story. I think it'll be hard to convey a realistic, evil Neo. he just doesn't seem to produce the same aura of evil that Smith did. Also, i don't see how the cloud could be an omen, or if it was, how you could have known. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.